today i am pre-listening 6 tracks from the upcoming album and precisely

someday

do this anymore

throw yourself away

see you at the show

feelin' way too damn good

saturday night's alright (for fighting)- Elton John cover

And here my impressions. please consider that the invited media  were not given any copy of the songs and we were allowed to listen to them only one time. So mine are really impressions on the spot.  Anyway i can give some indications i'm really convinced about. For sure The long Road tries to find a balance between harder chords and softer, melodic emotions, but let's see how:

someday - which is also the single -  this song is now well known and  the video,  recently shot in Vancouver by video director Nigel Dick, is broadcasted widely by MTV for example.  Imo it is much weaker than its predecessor "How you remind me". It is a kind of easy listening rock with some emotive and agreeable chords but, all in all, the good starting points are not supported by a worthy development of the song, that doesn't "takes off" that much. A bit romantic, a bit catchy, not innovative at all, it doesn't show unfortunately those heavier moments of charge and internal tension which marked "How you remind me" . I don't know if it will  repeat completely the previous success and hyperblasting rise to the charts.

do this anymore - Ah yes! far better! always with a romantic background but heavier, stronger, with good loopings and guitars in foreground. Catchy but not completely expectable, it should have been the single instead of Someday.   I have the impression that do this anymore will be one of the more appreciated songs of the album. really very ok, i will listen to it again very gladly.

through yourself away- Another yes!! it's really hard rock, or, better said, we are very near to the borderline between hard rock and metal. Good riffs, hammering soundscape, rather crunchy guitars and catchy enough. Another "i should have been the single"- track.

see you at the show- I give the benefit of the doubt, but for the moment, i only can say it's not a good song: it doesn't run fluency, a bit confused. It tries to be more refined but, on the contrary, it is only successful in putting together notes that are not persuading. No relevant starting points. i presume its destiny is , sooner or later, to be skipped to death.

feelin' way too damn good- balladesque there is much american taste and inspiration inside of it; it has acoustic flavours, that support harder crunchy explosions, in very short moments  reminds a bit even to TON proceeding, not in the strumentation but in the notes. All in all good.

saturday night's alright (for fighting) Elton John cover -  i don't like this song in itself, but, being a bonus track, and being also, in this case more than ever, a question of taste (it is one of the characteristics  of the covers indeed), i will not count it in my final temporary rating. It can be really a question of taste, for me this is one of the ugliest songs presented by Elton John (who has composed far better tracks of first  class), and consequently the cover too doesn't  change  the face of this utter crap shit (in my opinion of course) . Nickelback try hard , must be said, they put energy and a lot of striking guitar sounds, but, imo, what is shit and 2-cents-pop will remains shit and pop  eternally. amen. Nevertheless let's not forget that this cover includes guest appearances from Kid Rock and PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell. The song can also be heard on the soundtrack to "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle". I can also imagine that many fans will be on cloud nine listening to this song, that can be considered a gift from Nickelback, and however a research and an experimentation in itself. The musical effort in this cover is indeed remarkable. So it's up to you, as well as it will be up to me to skip this track merciless

Too few songs in order to give a definitive judgement about The Long Road, that, however, will be very appreciated both by melodic and hard rock fans. Nickelback appear more mature, and deliver shots to their repertoire . i think Chad Kroeger and co.  have based their efforts on the album more than one only hit , so i can risk for this long road 8 points out of ten, but ehi, wit the benefit of the doubt!

temporary rating:  8/10

"The Long Road" was recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was produced by frontman Chad Kroeger. It was recorded using a vintage mixing board from Little Mountain Sound that veteran producer Bob Rock used in the '80s to record artists like MÖTLEY CRÜE and SKID ROW.

dalia fc di giacomo